Jim Rossow's Big Ten report

Grade Illinois' performance here.

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

Purdue 24 Illinois 14

Ohio State 38 Minnesota 7

Northwestern 29 Indiana 28

Penn State 35 Michigan 10

Iowa 15 Michigan State 13

NEXT SATURDAY'S GAMES

Purdue at Wisconsin 11 a.m.

Indiana at Iowa 11 a.m.

New Mexico St. at Ohio State 11 a.m.

Michigan at Illinois 2:30 p.m.

Penn State at Northwestern 3:30 p.m.

Michigan State at Minnesota 7 p.m.

SATURDAY'S STARS

RICKY STANZI, Iowa. Mediocre most of the game, the quarterback engineered one of the finest drives in school history to keep the Hawkeyes' bid for a national title alive.

SUPERSTAR FRIENDS, Ohio State. Among those who spent the week cheering up quarterback Terrelle Pryor: Cavaliers stars LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal as well as former Ohio State Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith. "Last week really humbled me. I may be a little too cocky," Pryor said. "I got so many phone calls from people trying to help me." With 104 yards rushing, Pryor became the fifth Ohio State quarterback to rush for 1,000 career yards, joining Cornelius Greene, Rex Kern, Art Schlichter and Smith.

MIKEL LESHOURE, Illinois. He's running away in the MVP race at Illinois.

TACKLERS, Ohio State. The Buckeyes haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher over their past 18 games, the second-longest streak in the nation. Alabama is first at 27 games.

RAY FISHER, Indiana. Became the second Hoosier with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a season. Marcus Thigpen did it three times in 2006.

OFFENSIVE LINE, Purdue. Boilermakers had more rushing yards in the first half (171) than their final total in six of seven games played this season: 170 yards at Oregon, 147 vs. Northern Illinois, 74 yards vs. Notre Dame, 62 yards vs. Northwestern, 103 yards at Minnesota and 80 yards vs. Ohio State.

FANS, Indiana-Northwestern series. They get their money's worth, that's for sure. The last six games between the schools have been decided by an average of 3.8 points.

SATURDAY'S QUOTES

— "I've had a lot of conversations with Rich Rodriguez in the last 18-20 months and told him from the beginning if he needed me for any reason just call me and I'm happy to do so." – former Michigan coach LLOYD CARR, dispelling rumors after declining interview requests about his successor.

— "When Purdue doesn't beat Purdue, we can beat anybody." – Boilermakers defensive tackle MIKE NEAL after his team's error-free effort.

BOWL FORECAST

LOOKING GOOD: Iowa. They've won at Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Who's to doubt the Hawkeyes can't complete the road sweep with a win in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 14? It's the only real test left in the regular season as Iowa gets Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota at home.

LOOKING BAD: State of Michigan. Neither the Spartans nor Wolverines are bowl eligible yet. And if they do sneak in, Detroit might be as far as they get. Like Illinois, they're basketball schools.

ILLINOIS RECORD BOOK

With three catches, Arrelious Benn moved into sole possession of sixth place on the school's career receptions list:

ILLINI, YEARS CATCHES

David Williams, 1983-85 262

Jason Dulick, 1993-96 169

Brandon Lloyd, 1999-2002 160

John Wright Sr., 1965-67 159

Walter Young, 1999-2002 147

Arrelious Benn, 2007- 146

Mike Martin, 1979-82 143

Ty Douthard, 1993-96 128

Tim Brewster, 1982-83 116

Thomas Rooks, 1982-85 110

ILLINOIS RESULTS

Sept. 5 Missouri 37, UI 9

Sept. 12 UI 45, Illinois St. 17

Sept. 26 Ohio State 30, UI 0

Oct. 3 Penn State 35, UI 17

Oct. 10 Michigan St. 24, UI 14

Oct. 17 Indiana 27, UI 14

Saturday Purdue 24, UI 14

Oct. 31 vs. Michigan

Nov. 7 at Minnesota

Nov. 14 vs. Northwestern

Nov. 27 at Cincinnati

Dec. 5 vs. Fresno State

Comments

Add a Comment